Page 34 of Property of Crypt Keeper

“Where did she come from again?” I asked.

“Dropped at the clubhouse,” he told me. “By some woman claiming to be her aunt.”

“And you just… kept her?” I asked, a bit amused. As if she was a stray puppy.

His gaze hardened.

“She’s not safe out there. Her parents were murdered.”

No hesitation. No doubt. Interesting. I stepped closer to the bars, ignoring the way the wards prickled against my skin and the way his gaze swept over me.

“And you think this is connected to me?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “But I think you might know something I don’t.”

“About your kind?” I pressed, surprised.

“About anything that hunts them,” he corrected. “Because it’s possible that whoever killed them thought they were werewolves too.”

Ah. Now we were getting somewhere. I wrapped my fingers around the bars, leaning in slightly. My nipples hardened at simply being near him, but I ignored the sexual pull.

“Then you should let me help you,” I said softly.

His expression didn’t change. But I felt it. That pull again. Stronger now.

“At first, I thought maybe you had killed her parents thinking they were werewolves like you did me.”

“And now? How do you know I didn’t?” I hadn’t. I would remember killing a couple.

“They were human.”

I hid my shock. Or at least I thought I did. “That’s not possible.”

“That’s what we’ve said. If that was indeed her mother, her father must’ve been someone else. Or vice versa.”

“Is she yours?” I asked.

“Hell no,” he insisted without hesitation.

“You sure?”

He paused. “I mean, I don’t think so. Her ‘aunt’ referred to her parents.”

I could see when it clicked with him that the woman claimed to be her aunt, but they didn’t believe that. Which meant she could have lied about everything.

“Unlock the cuffs,” I beseeched. “I have contacts you don’t. Networks you’ll never reach on your own.”

His jaw tightened.

“I don’t trust you.”

Fair.

“Then come with me,” I offered. “Watch everything I do.”

His wolf surged. I felt it. That possessive edge, sharp and dangerous, brushing against my senses like heat.

He wanted to. But he didn’t move. Didn’t unlock the cuffs. Didn’t step closer.